GROUP SHOW WITH AYAKO ROKKAKU
I CAN BUY MYSELF FLOWERS

KUNSTHAL N, COPENHAGEN, DENMARK
8 MARCH – 2 AUGUST 2026

The flower is one of the most widely used motifs in art history: universally recognizable, aesthetically accessible, and at the same time charged with meanings of life, death, love, grief, and transformation. It carries countless narratives at once – depending on who is looking at it and in what context. 

“I Can Buy Myself Flowers” takes its title from Miley Cyrus’ hit celebrating the ability to stand on one’s own — but the reference reaches far beyond the world of pop culture. As early as Virginia Woolf’s Mrs Dalloway, the flower plays a central role as a symbol of emotion, reflection, and independence. With the flower as a recurring motif, we explore themes such as self-care, agency, and the right to take oneself seriously – without withdrawing from community.

© Photo Anders Sune Berg-kopi

“Flowers are at once ‘useless’ and indispensable. Beautifully camouflaged cultural markers whose psychological effect can last far longer than the bouquet itself. For better and for worse, of course. In this exhibition, we explore what happens when care is no longer something one owes or exchanges, but something one assumes — without an audience and without asking permission.” – Thomas Asbæk, Artistic Director of Kunsthal n.

“I Can Buy Myself Flowers” explores floral symbolism as a source of sensuality, strength, rebellion, and defiant courage. Traditionally, we give flowers as tokens of love or care — yet often an invisible expectation of something in return follows. In the exhibition, this perspective is reversed: what happens when the flower is given to oneself? It becomes a symbol of agency and inner growth, a gesture that requires no explanation and empowers without creating debt. Something new emerges – a force taking shape from within. 

“I Can Buy Myself Flowers” has been realized with the generous support of the Ny Carlsbergfondet, Aage og Johanne Louis-Hansens Fond, William Demant Fonden, Nørrebro Lokaludvalg, Erik Birger Christensens Fond and Overretssagfører L. Zeuthens Mindelegat.  

FEATURED ARTIST

AYAKO ROKKAKU
Ayako Rokkaku (b. 1982 in Chiba, Japan) lives and works between Berlin, Porto, and Tokyo. Her artistic process involves an instinctive and performative approach, as she uses her bare hands to apply acrylic paint, translating the motion of her body onto the canvas. True to her distinctive technique, she moulds figures with the tips of her fingers, whether on canvas, through glass, or in bronze.

Rokkaku’s visual language seamlessly shifts between elusive abstract formations and figurative elements, drawing inspiration from the kawaii culture (Japanese for cute) and capturing the boundless imagination of a child. Rokkaku is known for he...
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